Costa-Gavras: “I was impressed by AGORA”
“Cinema is valuable when it is national, when it comes from the soul of a country”. This was the key-phrase used by prominent Greek-French filmmaker Costa-Gavras when asked about his views on Greek cinema in an interview at VIMAgazino.
“Recently I was not impressed by a film, but rather by the documentary film Agora”, said the director of Academy-awarded “Z” (Interview in Greek here).
This is not the first time that Costa-Gavras has referred to the documentary film AGORΑ by Yorgos Avgeropoulos. He was actually one of the first to support it by acknowledging its contribution to collective memory and to the documentation of one of the most difficult periods in modern Greece’s post-war history: “I watched your film with great interest and often with intense emotion. It is a serious and important film, which depicts the terrible times that the Greek people are going through. Your film is a historical fact. I hope that change will come soon.”
PARTICIPATION AT THESSALONIKI DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL
After a rather successful national theatrical release and while screening events and broadcasts continue both in Greece and abroad, AGORΑ, the documentary film-arc of the Greek crisis by Yorgos Avgeropoulos, will participate in Greece’s most important documentary film event, the 17th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (13-22 March 2015). The film will screen at the Greek Panorama section twice, on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 March. Both screenings will be followed by Q&A sessions with director Yorgos Avgeropoulos.
AGORA will also screen at the Thessaloniki Film Museum (Takis Kanellopoulos theater) on Wednesday 1 April and Wednesday 8 April.
FIRST TV BROADCAST IN SWITZERLAND
Following broadcasts in Germany (WDR), the Arab world (Al Jazeera Arabic), Finland (YLE), Spain (TVC) and Belgium (RTBF), Switzerland comes next. AGORΑ will have its first Swiss TV broadcast by RSI on Monday 30 March at 22:20.
UPCOMING TV BROADCASTS IN GERMANY
AGORΑ is also scheduled to be broadcasted by the German documentary channel PHOENIX on Saturday 21 March at 22:30 as well as EINSFESTIVAL, the digital channel of Germany’s biggest public broadcaster ARD on Tuesday 24 March (15:20), Wednesday 25 March (05:30 & 09:00) and Saturday 28 March (08:50).
SCREENINGS AT FILM SOCIETIES IN GREECE AND CYPRUS
More and more screenings are organized by film societies, thus giving AGORΑ the chance to meet audiences in many Greek cities. The film is scheduled to screen by Katerini Film Society (18 March), Preveza Film Society (19 March), Kos Film Society (27 March), Samothraki Film Society (4 April), Trenotechneion arts venue at Kyparissia (28 March), Lefkada Film Society (1 April), Karystos Film Society (1 April), Nisyros Cultural Club (1 April) while its tour in Cyprus continues with upcoming screenings in Paphos (23 March), Deryneia (30 March) and Larnaca (2 April).
More information about upcoming screenings of AGORΑ by film societies and cultural clubs in Greece and the rest of the world will follow soon.
